Feed-trough



(No Model.)

L. B. POY.

FEED TROUGH.

,529. Patented Nov. 1, 1887.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIC LAWRENCE B. FOY, OF AUDUBON, IOWVA.

FEED-THOUGH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 372,529, dated November1, 1887.

Application filed March 15, 1887.

T0 aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, LAwRENcn B. FoY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Audubon, in the county of Audubon and State of Iowa, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Feed-Troughs, of which thefollowing is so full, clear, and exact a description as will enableothers skilled in the art to which my invention appertains to make anduse the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in whichFigure l is a perspective of my improved feed-trough. Fig. 2 is avertical section of the same. Fig. 3 is a detail view ofa bar which isused to hold the pivotal guard against aecidental displacement.

The object of my invention is to provide a fecdtrough which may be usedin pigpens, calf-pens, or in any other inclosure in which animals areconfined, and one which may be cleaned and purified without thenecessity of entering theinclosure to remove the debris and otheraccumulations incident to such devices when used as feedtroughs forhogs, cattle, and other animals.

- Another object of my invention is to provide a movable shield, whichmay be shifted from one side of the trough to the other for the purposeof cleaning the trough; and to that end it consists in the troughprovided with a pivotal movable shield, which may be shifted to exposethe trough from different sides at will, and in certain other details ofconstruction, which will be hereinafter fully described, and what I deemto be novel and useful will be particularly pointed out in the claims atthe end of the specification.

In Figs. 1 and 2 the trough proper is designated by the reference-letterA, which is pro vided in thisinstance with end pieces, B B, which arecurved along their tops. The trough is securely held in position byupright standards O C. The standards are held securely together by thetrough at the bottom, and at the top by the horizontal cross bar D,which is perforated at d to receive projections d on the upper end ofthe upright standards 0. The horizontal cross-piece D is also providedwith larger perforations, 0, through which slide Serial No. 230,959. (Nomodel.)

freely projections c c on the upper ends of the uprights E E, to whichis secured the movable shield F. The projections c c are provided withshoulders 0 which limit their upward movement through the perforations cc in the horizontal bar D. Near the lower ends of the uprights E E areopenings/or recesses c, which are provided with friction-wheels e,pivotally secured to said uprights at c". The removable shield Fconsists of the uprights E E an d board H, the said board H beingprovided on its outside with the handle 9.

On the insideof the rigid uprightstamlards G, I provide suitablefastening-clips, h h, in which I insert the recessed ends i i of the removable cross-bar I. This bar is recessed at 11' i, forming shoulders toprevent accidental lateral displacement of the bar. The object of thisvremovable cross-bar is twofold: First, it prevents the removable shieldfrom being accidentally displaced,andin the second place it facilitatesthe removal ofthe shield F when it is desired to take it out entirely,as it often may be; and this removable shield will thus form a door, andbyitsremoval afree passageway may be obtained out of the iuclosure overthe trough.

It is often desirable in constructing pig-pens and other inclosures forstock to dispense with any door except the one which opens where thetrough is located, and by constructing the trough after theplan shownand described this purpose may be effected with little or no difficulty.By n'iakiug the board H of the shield somewhat narrower than the lengthof the uprights E E a recess, 0*, will be formed at the junction of thelower edge of the board H i and the uprights E, so that when the shieldis shoved in to close the trough from the inside the ends e of theuprights E will extend slightly below the top of the upper inner edge ofthe trough, and the movable shield F will be held in position by its owngravity and the project ing ends 6* e on the lower portion of theuprights E E. By this means a man can put the feed for the stock in thetrough and go away, leaving the feed in the trough, where it may remainuntil it is time to again feed the animals, when a child or servant cango and feed them by simply raising the shield and pulling it over to thefront edge of the'trough. This is often desirable when the device isused by farmers and others who are obliged to be away certain portionsof the day, when it is necessary for children, servants,'or housewivesto feed the stock.

It is obvious that thelongitudinal bar I may by replaced by suitableequivalent stops-such as pins or any other equivalent device-withoutdeparting from the spirit of my invention. It is also quite obvious thatthe trough itself might be removed by grooving the side pieces andslipping the trough downinto them without departing from the spirit ofmy invention and without in any way destroying its usefulness, and I donot wish to be understood as limiting myself to the exact. constructionshown, as several of the details of construction might be varied at willand still leave the structure one that would comewithin the meaningofthe above description.

The outer or front edges of the rigid vertical standards 0 O areprovided with guards G G,

' which extend in sufficient distance toward the center of the trough toprevent the shield from being accidentally displaced on the outside andto limit the outward movement of the shield when itis pulled outtoexpose thetrongh from the inside.

The operation of my device is as follows: When it is desired to feed thestock, the movable shield F is pushed over to the inside of the trough.The feed is placed in the trough. Then the shield is slightly raised bymeans of the handle 9, and the friction-rollers e 6 will facilitate theready and easy movement of the shield, which is pulled out and droppeddown on the outer edge of the trough, as shown in Fig. 2. After thestock have consumed the food which was placed in the trough, the shieldmay be pushed back to the inside, the trough thoroughly cleansed, and anew supply of food may be placed in the trough, which is ready for thestock to eat, and to which they be given ready access by simply movingthe shield outward, as above explained.

Having now described the objects, uses, and

' advantages of my device, what I desire to seeuro by Letters Patent,and what I therefore claim, is-

1. In a feed-trough of the character described, the combinationof thetrough having curved end pieces and suitable supports there for with avertically-reciprocating movable shield,which is loosely mounted in thestructure and may be shifted from one side of the trough to the otherside of the same by sliding its bottom portion over the curved ends ofthe trough, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

2. In a feed-trough 'of the character de scribed, the trough andsuitable supports therefor, in combination with a removable shield vprovided with bearings having friction-rollers and guide-tracks for thesame to slide on, constructed substantially as described, whereby themovable shield may be readily and easily shifted from side to side,substantially as and for the purposes specified.

3. In a feedtrough of the character described, the combination of themain rigid standards supporting the trough, with a longitudinalcross-piece at the top provided with suitable perforations and a movableshield provided with uprights,which extend through the perforations inthe cross-piece and which are free to slide through the perforations inthe cross-piece to facilitate the shifting of the shield, substantiallyas and for the purposes specified.

4. In a feed-trough of the character described, the combination of therigid standards provided with guards on one side and a bar or stop onthe opposite slde, both secured to the rigid standards for limiting themovement of a movable shield, with a movable shield and a trough, allconstructed and combined to operate substantially as and for thepurposes specified. l

5. In a feed-trough of-the character described, the rigid uprights andtrough, in combination with a movable shield and guards on:

the outside and a removable longitudinal bar on the inside, both securedto the rigid uprights, all constructed and combined to operatesubstantially as described, whereby the inner bar may be removed and theshield taken out to provide a. door through which stock may pass wherethe trough is located, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

6. In a feed-trough of the character de scribed, the combination of themovable shield provided withuprights rigidly secured thereto, saiduprights having projections on their upper portions forming shoulders tolimit the upward movement of the uprights, with the main standards andthe longitudinal crossbar provided with perforations through which slidethe projections on the uprights, all constructed and combined to operatesubstantially as and for the purposes specified.

7. In a feed-trough of the character dc scribed, the combination, withthe trough and the rigid standards therefor, of a shield consistingofuprights having a board secured thereto, said'board being of a widthless than the length of the uprights, forming a recess below the shieldat the lower junction of the shield and the uprights, all constructedand combined to operate so the movable shield willbe securely held inposition on the edge of the trough and locked in such position by itsown gravity against accidental displacement, substantially as and forthe purposes specified.

8. In a feed-trough of the character described, the combination of themain rigid uprights provided with projecting pins at the top and amovable shield provided with projections, with a rigid longitudinalbrace perforated to receive the projections on the upper ends of therigid standards and provided with seconc'lperforations of sufficientsize to receive In testimony that I claim the above as my theprojections on the movable shield, which invention I hereunto set myhand in the pres- [o projections slide freely through the said perenceof two subscribing witnesses.

forations and suitable stops for limitin the T 5 movement of the shieldin its vertical an?! lat- LAWREB CE eral movements, all constructed andcombined \Vitnesses: to operate substantially as and for the pur- F. M.VAN PELT, poses specified. H. \V. HANNA.

